Editorial

Under the competent management of the HSRC, Contree has
established itself over the past 15 years as an academic journal for South
African urban and regional history. The Department of History of the Rand
Afrikaans University has now taken over Contree and this is the first issue
under the guidance of the new editorship. The object of Contree remains
unchanged, namely to publish articles of a high academic standard and to
stimulate research in the field of urban and regional history. As formerly,
urban and regional history is interpreted in a broad sense and all articles
dealing with aspects of this field will be considered for publication. Contree
also aims at making scientific historical writing more accessible to the
communities who are studied in the articles. The journal is therefore also aimed
at readers outside the formal academic world.

The change in editorship has also brought certain changes in
the journal. The most important is in its external appearance, especially the
cover which from now onwards will have a specific design. These changes were
necessary to avoid rising printing costs and to ensure that Contree can be
published at a reasonable price.